Sunday, April 29, 2012

Newark Targets Newsstand After Owner Talks to Newspaper

The agony of attempting to do business in the fascist state - the City of Newark, NJ has refused to renew the business license of newspaper stand vendor who has been in the same location for 40 years. I guess Mr. Vernacchia just didn't grease the palms of Newark's political overlords. Of course, requiring a business license to do business is statist interference in the right of a person to earn a living.

Last week, the Star Ledger’s Barry Carter wrote about the plight faced by a local newsstand owner in Newark, NJ who was having trouble getting the city to renew the license on his nearly 40-year-old business:
[Robert] Vernacchia, 69, doesn’t know how much longer he’ll be in business here because the city hasn’t renewed his license in four years and licensing agents have threatened to shut him down. Vernacchia says his license was renewed every year as long as the business facing his newsstand didn’t have a problem with him being there. All that changed in 2008 when Valu-Plus, a discount store that’s no longer in business, told the city it didn’t want the newsstand in front of its store anymore. As a result, Vernacchia said, the city denied his renewal application for a license when he reapplied.
Vernacchia, however, is still there peddling coffee, tea, snacks and years of friendship, not knowing what’s going to happen. "I feel like I’m on death row," said the Newark native who lives in Warren. The city didn’t have much to say and that’s been the problem. He doesn’t understand why.